Washington, DC – (Sept. 28, 2016) – Sara Radcliffe, President & CEO of the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the premier statewide public policy and business leadership organization representing California’s leading life sciences innovators, issued the following statement applauding the U.S. House of Representatives for approving S. 1878, the Advancing Hope Act of 2016:

“California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) applauds the passage of S. 1878, the Advancing Hope Act of 2016, which unanimously passed the House of Representatives this week. Congressional approval of this bill comes at a critical time, as it will renew and extend through the end of this year the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher (PRV) program, ensuring the continuation of a program proven to incentivize and accelerate innovation in new treatments and cures for rare diseases.

“This action by the House is a critical step in the right direction toward fostering drug development for rare diseases in children, and CLSA will continue to advocate for the extension of the program well into the future to ensure innovators have a viable incentive to invest in risky and challenging research and development efforts. We applaud the legislation’s lead authors – in particular, Senators Bob Casey (D-Penn.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Representatives G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas) – and many cosponsors for their commitment to ensuring the continuation of this program to incentivize investment in the development of targeted therapies for pediatric rare diseases, and urge President Obama to swiftly sign the Advancing Hope Act into law.”

There are more than 7,000 distinct types of rare diseases and disorders that directly affect 30 million people, most of them children. Approximately 95 percent of rare diseases have no FDA-approved therapy.

The Senate passed S. 1878 on Sept. 22, 2016 and now goes to the President’s desk for his signature.

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) is the state’s largest and most influential life sciences advocacy and business leadership organization. With offices in Sacramento, San Diego, South San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC, CLSA works closely with industry, government, academia and others to shape public policy, improve access to innovative technologies and grow California’s life sciences economy. CLSA serves biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics companies, research universities and institutes, investors and service providers throughout the Golden State. CLSA was founded in 2015 when the Bay Area Bioscience Association (BayBio) and the California Healthcare Institute (CHI) merged. Visit CLSA at www.califesciences.org and follow us on Twitter @CALifeSciences, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.